On Tuesday, a verdict will be delivered against four AIK supporters who are on trial for putting up a banner during a football match. The banner read 'imprison Per Engström – save Swedish football' and was directed at the then head of the National Operational Department. The incident occurred last September amid controversy over the police's new directives on mask bans at Allsvenskan matches, where police had informed clubs they would interrupt matches if organized masking occurred.
The supporters set up the banner in connection with this, and it is now being used as evidence in court. The plaintiff is Per Engström, the former head of the National Operational Department. The charge is assault on an official, part of a reform introduced in 2025 aimed at strengthening the protection of public employees against threats, violence, and harassment.
merely prosecuting the supporters is a restriction of freedom of expression and views the reform as ill-considered
Mårten Schultz, a freedom of expression expert and professor of civil law at Stockholm University, says that merely prosecuting the supporters is a restriction of freedom of expression and views the reform as ill-considered. If this leads to a conviction, he believes it could become a legal case that goes all the way to the Supreme Court, potentially setting a precedent for future similar charges.
If this leads to a conviction, he believes it could become a legal case that goes all the way to the Supreme Court, potentially setting a precedent for future similar charges